73400 - SOCIOLOGIA DEL WEB

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student: - possesses conceptual and methodological tools appropriate for understanding prosumer tactics and strategies in the face of the increasing digitization of production and consumption contexts; - knows how to apply theoretical and methodological tools to the analysis of digital communication processes, with particular reference to Web 2.0.

Course contents

The course offers theoretical and methodological tools for the sociological study of how digital environments reconfigure the construction of identities, emotions, and social relations, seamlessly with the physical environments of interaction and experience. Particular attention will be paid to the interaction and reciprocal influence between the characteristics of platforms and users' practices, the role played by the specific affordances and algorithms of different platforms where users produce vernacular cultures through everyday uses and interactions. The study of the evolution of the forms of mediation characteristic of current societies will be placed in the broader theoretical perspective of mediatization, an innovative frontier in the international literature of internet and media studies, which analyses the profound relationships of mutual influence and co-evolution between media and society.

The course is structured in three parts, the first is dedicated to a theoretical introduction to mediation and mediatization processes and the historical and technological evolution of digital media and user practices. The second part of the course is dedicated to the presentation of sociological research on different practices and different platforms, also with the contribution of seminars held by lecturers from other universities, where current topics of research on digital and social media will be focused, such as self-presentation, the management of emotions online in recently diffused platforms (such as TikTok and/or Telegram), the practices of online memory and mourning but also the role of digital media in the production of public opinion. Particular attention will be paid to user agency, practices of use, domestication, rejection, and resistance. The course is rounded off with a practical exercise part in the field of social research, in particular through case studies enriched by short ethnographies in digital environments carried out by students.

Non-attending students who will not be conducting the practical research exercise must bring study materials supplementary to those provided for attending students as a substitute (see section "Readings/Bibliography".

Readings/Bibliography

1. Boccia Artieri G., Comunicare: la mediatizzazione, in Bichi R. (a cura di) Sociologia generale, Vita e Pensiero, 2022, cap. 36, pp. 443-454 (compulsory for non attending students, suggested reading for attending students, pdf available in https://virtuale.unibo.it/).
   
2. Vittadini N., Social media studies. I social media alla soglia della maturità: storia, teorie e temi, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2018., pp. 9-177.
3. Boccia Artieri G., Gemini L., Pasquali F., Carlo S., Farci M., Pedroni M., Fenomenologia dei social network. Presenza, relazioni e consumi mediali degli italiani online, Guerini Scientifica, Milano, 2017.
4. 6 articles of your choice from the following (for attending students  only 3 articles):

• Pasquali, F., Bartoletti, R., & Giannini, L., “You’re Just Playing the Victim”: Online Grieving and the Non-use of Social Media in Italy, in Social Media + Society, 8(4), October-December 2022, Open Access https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221138757
• Mascheroni G.,La società dei dati: datificazione e discriminazioni algoritmiche, in Digital media. Piattaforme algoritmiche e società, a cura di N. Vittadini e Locatelli E., 2023, Vita e Pensiero, Milano, pp. 145-167 (cap. 7 del volume).
• Pasquali F., Airoldi P, Scifo B.,Exploring digital disconnection. Una proposta di rilettura del dibattito internazionale sulla disconnessione digitale, in Sociologia della comunicazione, n. 64, 2022, pp. 80-97.
• Bonini T., Treré E.,Disconnessione digitale e resistenza tra i corrieri dell’industria del Food Delivery online, in Sociologia della comunicazione, n. 64, 2022, pp. 98-117.
• Brilli S.,YouTube Freak Show: Fama e derisione alle soglie dell’influencer culture. FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2023, SOLO il capitolo 3 o, in alternativa, solo il capitolo 4.
• Zurovac E.,Balla il rock'n'roll la Jugoslavia su Tiktok: Analisi qualitativa di contenuti online tra ricordo e reframing, MEDIASCAPES JOURNAL, vol. 21, 2023, pp. 205-223, OPEN ACCESS scaricabile da https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/18427/17453.
• Steen, E., Yurechko, K., & Klug, D. (2023).You Can (Not) Say What You Want: Using Algospeak to Contest and Evade Algorithmic Content Moderation on TikTok. Social Media + Society, 9(3). Open Access https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231194586
• Velkova J. & Kaun A. (2021)Algorithmic resistance: media practices and the politics of repair, Information, Communication & Society, 24:4, 523-540, Open Acces DOI:10.1080/1369118X.2019.1657162
• van der Nagel, E. (2018).‘Networks that work too well’: Intervening in algorithmic connections. Media International Australia, 168(1), 81–92. doi:10.1177/1329878X18783002 (pdf scaricabile nello spazio di apprendimento virtuale del corso - https://virtuale.unibo.it/)
• Bruns A.,È vero che internet ci chiude in una bolla? Una prospettiva critica su filter bubble ed echo chamber, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2024, pp. 7-111 (if selected corresponds to 3 choice texts or alternatively replaces chapters 3 and 4 of Vittadini's volume)
• Farci M., Scarcelli C., Lo studio dei media digitali, del genere e della sessualità, in M. Farci, C. M. Scarcelli, (a cura di), “Media digitali, genere e sessualità”, Mondadori, Milano 2022, pp. 25-48
• Bracciale R., Media digitali genere e pratiche partecipative, in M. Farci, C. M. Scarcelli, (a cura di), “Media digitali, genere e sessualità”, Mondadori, Milano 2022, pp. 252-268.

Suggested readings:

1. Bentivegna S., Boccia Artieri G., Le teorie della comunicazione di massa e la sfida digitale, Laterza, Bari, 2019, SOLO il capitolo 2: Società e media digitali: “network society”, “connective society” e “platform society”, pp. 23-39 (pdf scaricabile nello spazio di apprendimento virtuale del corso - https://virtuale.unibo.it/).

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars, group work in classroom, and fieldwork.

Assessment methods

The verification of learning will take place using an individual oral interview based on the reference texts for the examination and the practical social research exercise, aimed at assessing both the student's learning of the content and his or her ability to elaborate and argue.

The student's possession of excellent critical and in-depth skills, the ability to link together the main themes addressed in the course, and the use of appropriate language concerning the specificity of the discipline, will result in excellent grades.

The student's possession of a mnemonic knowledge of the contents, a discrete critical capacity and ability to connect the topics covered, and the use of appropriate language will result in fair marks.

Sufficient assessments will result from: the presence of some educational gaps, but attainment of a minimal knowledge of the topics covered; the use of inappropriate language.

The following will result in negative assessments: the absence of critical capacity, difficulties in orientation about the topics addressed in the examination texts, educational gaps, and the use of inappropriate language.

Teaching tools

Powerpoint presentations.

Office hours

See the website of Roberta Bartoletti